Tommy Chang, the superintendent of Boston Public Schools, is in the midst of planning his escape from the controversy and scrutiny of his role in Boston Public Schools' failures. The Herald article of April 6th exposed Mr. Chang as a “bottom of the list candidate” to lead LA school district.
Mr. Chang is not the only top official of BPS who is trying to find the exit. His top advisor and “long-time friend” from LA, Karla Estrada-Deputy Superintendent of BPS- is unexpectedly resigning, too. Dr. Marice Edouard Vincent-Instructional Superintendent of BPS- seems to be following the lead with an eye on the exit as she is interviewing for the superintendent position of the Medford Schools.
It’s no secret that BPS had its share of issues before Tommy Chang, but the avalanche effect on these issues that BPS has been experiencing for the past three years, has left parents stunned. What has been causing this avalanche effect then?
The answer is simple: TOMMY CHANG’S LACK Of LEADERSHIP SKILLS!
Mr. Chang has delegated the power to the wrong people. These people were able to capitalize on Chang’s poor skills and naivete about the political landscape of Boston. They pulled the wool right over his eyes, and simply promoted a culture of entitlement and privilege while serving their own personal agendas.
Who knows, maybe Chang had good intentions in serving our community. That still doesn’t absolve him of his share of the responsibility for all the mistakes. The IRS mess, school start times, budget cuts, inclusion, declining MCAS scores are just some of the disasters to name under Mr. Chang's administration. Our kids have to pay, so he should too!
Just last week, the headmasters of West Roxbury High and Brighton High have joined the myriad of BPS principals forced into the mysterious abyss of principals on PAID leave. How many BPS principals/headmasters have gone on admin leave over the past 12 months? It is definitely much more than any other district and more than we have ever seen Boston. If these admin are all so bad, who assigned them to these positions to start with? Where did things go wrong for these principals, and whose responsibility was it to lead them?
It’s also simple. The taxpayers of Boston pay $160,000 per year for this purpose alone. It’s called the “Principal Leader” position. With that kind of salary, we should expect that quality principals are being hired and trained. Yet, Tommy Chang assigned Mary Driscoll as the “Principal Leader” for the entire district in 2015- and clearly, our money is not being used well. Is Mary Driscoll making sure all principals are qualified and certified appropriately before they are handed these jobs? Every time a school principal is placed on leave, the district’s incompetence is made more obvious.
Find out what's happening in West Roxburyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Just a couple of weeks ago, it became public information that the principal of the Kilmer School in West Roxbury is not certified to be a principal. According to the Department of Ed., she didn’t meet the requirements. How did this escape Mary Driscoll’s attention? Or, is it that Ms. Driscoll picks and chooses who to cover up for and who to go after? Maybe that is the name of the new BPS game under Mary Driscoll’s culture of entitlement. She gets to call who is “in” and who is “out.”
Well, she might have to remember that the buck might have to stop with her before she finds an exit route for herself, and changing job titles with the same payroll to strip off accountability may not be enough to cover her tracks.